If you’re watching a lot of food TV (our favorite, too), you may hear unfamiliar words thrown around as if they are commonplace. Kitchen lingo finds its way to mainstream conversation quite a bit, but phrases particular to the kitchen might be more mysterious—like sous chef, commis, and saucier—especially when there may be 3 different terms for the same thing. Here, we’ll give you the historical rundown of the kitchen brigade system, which assigns names and responsibilities to each member of the kitchen staff.
The brigade system was instituted by French chef Auguste Escoffier (not an ad, just an FYI: Le Guide Culinaire is a foundational culinary tome) to streamline and simplify work in hotel kitchens. It served to eliminate the chaos and duplication of effort that could result when workers did not have clear-cut responsibilities. Under this system, each position has a station and defined responsibilities as outlined below. In smaller operations, the classic system is generally abbreviated and responsibilities are organized to make the best use of workspace and talents.
Today’s kitchens typically follow and abbreviated version of this system, primarily employing a chef, sous chef, and a series of line cooks, who are essentially consolidations of some roles below). High end restaurants are likely to have a chef, sous chef, expediter (often the sous chef), pastry chef, maître d’hôtel, wine steward, and line cooks.
The chef, also known as the chef de cuisine or executive chef, is responsible for all kitchen operations, including ordering, supervision of all stations, and development of menu items.
The sous chef is second in command, answers to the chef, may be responsible for scheduling, fills in for the chef, and assists the station chefs (or line cooks) as necessary. Small operations may not have a sous chef.
The expediter or announcer (aboyeur) accepts orders from the dining room and relays them to the various station chefs. This individual is the last person to see the plate before it leaves the kitchen. In some operations, this may be either the chef or the sous chef. The station is often referred to as “expo.”
The garde manger (cold-foods chef), also known as the pantry chef, is responsible for preparation of cold foods including salads, cold appetizers, and pâtés. This is considered a separate category of kitchen work.
The maître d’hôtel (or simply maître d), sometimes known in American service as the dining room manager, is the person who holds the most responsibility for the front-of- the-house operation. The maître d’hôtel trains all service personnel, oversees wine selection, works with the chef to determine the menu, and organizes seating throughout service.
The wine steward (chef de vin or sommelier) is responsible for all aspects of restaurant wine service, including purchasing wines, preparing a wine list, assisting guests in wine selection, and serving wine properly. The wine steward may also be responsible for the service of liquors, beers, and other beverages. If there is no wine steward, these responsibilities are generally assumed by the maître d’hôtel.
The range of positions in a classic brigade also include the following, though they are less commonly assigned in modern kitchens:
- The sauté chef (saucier) is responsible for all sautéed items and their sauces. This position is often considered the most demanding, responsible, and glamorous on the line.
- The fish chef (poissonier) is responsible for fish items and their sauces, often including fish butchering. This position is sometimes combined with the saucier position.
- The roast chef (rôtisseur) is responsible for all roasted foods and related jus or other sauces.
- The grill chef (grillardin) is responsible for all grilled foods. This position may be combined with that of rôtisseur.
- The fry chef (friturier) is responsible for all fried foods. This position may be combined with the rôtisseur position.
- The vegetable chef (entremetier) is responsible for hot appetizers and frequently has responsibility for soups, vegetables, and pastas and other starches. (In a full traditional brigade system, soups are prepared by the soup station or potager, and vegetables by the legumier.) This station may also be responsible for egg dishes.
- The roundsman (tournant) or swing cook works as needed throughout the kitchen.
- The butcher (boucher) is responsible for butchering meats, poultry, and occasionally fish. The boucher may also be responsible for breading meat and fish items. Today, this role is frequently outsourced to meat providers, sold to the restaurant in market form.
The pastry chef (pâtissier) is responsible for baked items, pastries, and desserts. The pastry chef frequently supervises a separate kitchen area or a separate shop in larger operations. Depending on the size of the operation, the pastry chef might have a sous chef, though they are more commonly called assistant pastry chefs.
This position may be further broken down into the following areas of specialization, though they are less commonly assigned in modern kitchens:
- confiseur (prepares candies and petits fours),
- boulanger (prepares unsweetened doughs, as for breads and rolls),
- glacier (prepares frozen and cold desserts), and
- décorateur (prepares showpieces and special cakes).
The communard prepares the meal served to staff at some point during the shift (also called the family meal). In modern kitchens, this may be the job of a line cook (sometimes rotated among staff) or commis.
The commis sometimes called a stagiaire or apprentice, works under a station chef to learn how the station operates and its responsibilities. This may be a permanent position, or it may be filled by short term visiting cooks on a stage (pronounced st-ah-j, with a soft j, as in measure or vision).
